1. EE/Econ 458 The Simplex Method using the Tableau Method
J. McCalley

2. The tableau for initial solution
Our example problem
The tableau for initial solution
Not yet optimal!

3. Iteration 1 – determine entering variable
Select the variable that improves the objective at the highest rate (i.e., the largest amount of objective per unit change in variable).
This is the one in the first row that is most negative.
Pivot column

4. Iteration 1 – determine leaving variable
Choose leaving variable to be the one that hits 0 first as entering variable is increased, as dictated by one of the m constraint equations
Identify each equation that contains the entering variable (x2) and therefore imposes a constraint on how much it can be increased. In the table , this is the last two equations (the ones for x4 and x5).
For each identified equation, we solved for the entering variable (x2). Notice in the table that in both cases, this turned out to be x2=[RHS-0-0….]/[coefficient of x2]. The numerator subtracts zero(s) because, except for the entering variable and the right-hand-side, all other terms in each equation are zero! This is because each equation has only one basic (non-zero) term in it, and we are pushing this term to zero in order to see how much we can increase the entering variable (x­2).
The leaving variable is the one that hits 0 for the least value of the entering variable.

5. Iteration 1 – determine leaving variable
Choose leaving variable to be the one that hits 0 first as entering variable is increased, as dictated by one of the m constraint equations
Identify each equation that contains the entering variable (x2) and therefore imposes a constraint on how much it can be increased. In a Tableau, this will be the rows that have non-zero values for the entering variable, i.e., the rows that have non-zero values in the pivot column.
For each identified row in the Tableau, solve for the entering variable (x2) using: x2=[RHS]/[coefficient of x2].
The leaving variable is identified by the equation having minimum ratio given in step 2 as the previously basic (nonzero) variable of this equation.
The pivot element is the intersection of the two boxes.

6. Iteration 1 – find new BFS
Using the equation used to identify the leaving variable as the pivot row, eliminate the entering variable from all other equations.
A. Re-write the tableau so that
• x2 replaces x4 in the left-hand-column of basic variables, and
• the pivot row is divided by the pivot element
B. To eliminate x2 from all other equations (including objective), add an appropriate multiple of it to each row.

7. Exceptions – tie for entering variable
What happens if there is a tie for the entering variable, i.e., if there are two variables with the same coefficient in the objective function?
The way it was….
The way it could be….
 Choose one of them arbitrarily as the entering variable.
You either move to one corner point or another. Either way, the simplex will arrive at the optimal answer eventually. Choosing one over the other may get you there faster (with fewer iterations), but there is, in general, no way to know at this point

8. Exceptions – tie for leaving variable
What happens if we have two variables hitting zero for the same value of the entering variable?
The way it was….
The way it could be….
Should you choose x4 or x5 as the leaving variable? The best answer is x5 because then you move along constraint 3 to get to the lower right-hand corner point in the next iteration. But choosing x4 will also get there, it will just take 1 more iteration.

9. Exceptions – no leaving variable
What happens if we have NO variables hitting zero for the same value of the entering variable?
The way it was….
The way it could be….
x2 is unbounded (no feasible solution). We recognize this when we cannot choose the leaving variable due to no limits imposed on the increase in the entering variable. In such case, we stop the iterations and report the solution is unbounded.